Pepper spray training, Van Buren County Sheriff’s office, Feb. 15

Alex Kienlen, words and pictures

Wednesday

Feb 20, 2019 at 5:04 PM

Last Friday, Feb. 15, training was held for law enforcement, generally those getting ready to assume the role of jailers, at the Van Buren County Sheriff’s office. It was the culmination of several days of training, and this was the day where the trainee was expected to be (a) sprayed in the face with pepper spray and (b) do something after being sprayed, namely handcuff a suspect, then (c) wash the pepper spray off.

The temptation is to put a joke here, something about “Not a dry eye in the house,” but that wouldn’t be fair. You could tell it was serious as experienced officers, there on hand in various roles supporting the training, would (slightly, barely if you watched closely) grimace as each new trainee was sprayed. You could also tell is was serious as trainees recovered from the event.

[We’ll have a video of one trainee’s experience online this week at vanburencountydem.com ]

Never miss a story

Choose the plan that's right for you.
Digital access or digital and print delivery.